Category: Parkinsonism (Other)
Objective: To assess frequency and type of misfolded α-synuclein aggregates (syn-seeds) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) participants by means of the α-synuclein seed amplification assay (synSAA).
Background: Amprion’s synSAA reliably detects and differentiates two syn-seed types: Type1 syn-seeds are associated with Lewy bodies and predominantly found in patients with clinical diagnoses of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and DLB, while Type2 syn-seeds are associated with glial cytoplasmic inclusions and predominantly found in patients with clinical diagnoses of multiple system atrophy (MSA). Clinicopathological studies have shown misdiagnosis between MSA and DLB cases, especially early in the disease.
Method: 197 participants (137 DLB, 60 healthy controls) underwent diagnostic lumbar puncture at Paracelsus-Elena Klinik, a specialized clinic in Kassel, Germany to which patients are referred with clear movement disorder and cognitive symptoms. Diagnoses were finalized according to established criteria after comprehensive clinical evaluation over the course of many days at the baseline visit; additionally, a proportion of participants returned for follow-up visits and received DATscan imaging. CSF samples were analyzed by synSAA at Amprion. Positive samples with high (≥45,000RFU) and intermediate (≥3,000RFU & <45,000RFU) maximum fluorescence indicate Type1 and Type2 syn-seeds, respectively. Kinetic amplification parameters were analyzed.
Results: Syn-seeds were detected in 93.4% of DLB cases. 98.4% of positive synSAA DLB cases were found to have Type1 syn-seeds, while only 1.6% of positive synSAA cases were found to have Type2 syn-seeds. synSAA reached 94.8% specificity for healthy control cases.
Conclusion: CSF synSAA detected syn-seeds associated with Lewy body disease pathology in the vast majority of clinically defined dementia with Lewy body cases. These results confirm that the type of syn-seed is strongly correlated with type of synucleinopathy and suggest that CSF synSAA can discriminate DLB from MSA at the time of first symptoms.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
C. Farris, S. Weber, Y. Ma, M. Starke, B. Mollenhauer, L. Concha. Identification of Alpha-synuclein Pathology in Dementia with Lewy Body Participants by Seed Amplification Assay [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2026; 41 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/identification-of-alpha-synuclein-pathology-in-dementia-with-lewy-body-participants-by-seed-amplification-assay/. Accessed October 1, 2026.« Back to 2026 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/identification-of-alpha-synuclein-pathology-in-dementia-with-lewy-body-participants-by-seed-amplification-assay/